Before ‘Star Trek,’ Quentin Tarantino & J.J. Abrams Teamed Up For An Infamous Episode Of ‘Alias’

Last night news broke that American auteur Quentin Tarantino was heading for what could be the Final Frontier. He was going to team up with J.J. Abrams on a Star Trek movie. Yes, the genius behind such blood-soaked masterpieces as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Django Unchained is going to be swapping handguns for phasers and Mexican standoffs for Klingon Birds of Prey. Tarantino has presented Abrams with an original story idea for a Star Trek flick and Abrams is apparently going to make it! But the partnership between Tarantino and Abrams shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. The two have worked together before…on Alias.GIF: ABC

Way back in 2001, J.J. Abrams became the toast of Hollywood when Alias, his super-slick spy thriller about a winsome grad student who had a secret life as a double agent, became a massive hit for ABC. The series apparently had one famous fan in particular: Tarantino. By mid-season, Abrams was happily tinkering with the series’ formula to give the director a splashy guest star part in a two-parter inspired by Die Hard. No, really. Yes, seriously. This all happened. Though, it’s unclear who was the bigger fan of whom. Uncovering Alias: An Unofficial Guide hints that Abrams was the bigger fanboy and has this quote from him: “I knew Quentin a little bit from years ago. I just heard he was a huge fan of the show and he was interested in being a part of it and I called him and we made it happen. We were writing a part that I thought would be really funny and perfect for him.”

“The Box, Part 1,” and “The Box, Part 2” introduces Tarantino as disgraced SD-6 agent McKenas Cole, whom Arvin Sloane left for dead during a dangerous mission in Chechnya. Now Cole is back for vengeance. He’s working for the mysterious villain “The Man,” and has infiltrated his old stomping grounds to enact revenge and locate a Milo Rambaldi artifact. The only flaw in his plan? He didn’t take Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) or her father hostage. The two stage a rescue mission.

To this day, the episode is kind of infamous amongst Alias fans. It’s seen as the one major misstep in an otherwise spell-binding first season. (Abrams is really, really good at first seasons. He’s very good at setting up an intricate world and delivering a bunch of arresting twists. What comes after those twists is sometimes less than stellar…) Tarantino himself is considered the problem in the episode. His hammy acting doesn’t really stack up with Garner’s sincerity or even Alias supporting actor Bradley Cooper‘s charm. Plus, the flashy episode is built around McKenas Cole. It’s kind of a piece of fan fiction, but who is it written for? Is it so Tarantino can play super spy? Or for Abrams, who wants one of his favorite auteurs in his show? Tarantino returns to the series in Season 3, but people usually forget that appearance. “The Box,” though…fans remember “The Box.”GIF: ABC

So what can this tell us about the potential Tarantino/Abrams Star Trek movie? Well, we still know nothing about the plot or the creative direction, but we can glean a little about how these two might work together. Namely, they indulge one another. At least, Abrams is happy to indulge Tarantino. It’s hard to blame him. After all, when Tarantino is good, he’s genius. But Star Trek fans might be correct to be concerned. That is, your level of interest might come down to what you think of “The Box, Part 1” and “The Box, Part 2.” (For the record, I think the two-parter is sloppy, but fun.)